Monsters (Roswell)

Infobox Television episode


Title=Monsters
Series=Roswell
Season=1
Episode=3
Airdate=October 20, 1999
Production=1ADA02
Writer=Thania St. John
Director=David Semel
Guests=Julie Benz
Steve Hynter
Episode list=List of Roswell episodes
Prev="The Morning After"
Next="Leaving Normal"

Monsters is the third episode from the first season of the American science fiction television series Roswell. It aired on October 20, 1999. [cite web|url=http://news.tigerdirect.com/1999/10/20/roswell-monsters/|title=Roswell: Monsters|date=2008-10-20|publisher=tigerdirect.com|language=English|accessdate=2008-06-19]

Plot Synopsis

Isabel uses her powers to visit Maria in her dreams after she, Max and Michael begin to fear Maria will not be able to keep their secret.

ummary

The main focus of the episode is whether or not Maria will let the secret of the aliens out to Sheriff Valenti. Maria rear ends Sheriff Valenti after Isabel distracts her by using her alien powers in Maria’s car. Isabel begins to worry that Maria is not able to handle the secret she has been told. Upon entering Maria’s dream, Isabel becomes more worried that Maria will say something to Valenti. Max seeks out answers to the Roswell crash from the local UFO Center run by an eccentric Milton Ross. Ross tells Max he has one of the largest private collections on UFO sightings and alien encounters. As Maria has a meeting with Valenti, she ends up lying to protect the three, and the rest of the group is relieved to find this out at the end of the episode.

Expanded overview

The episodes begins with Maria giving Isabel a ride home when she sees Isabel on the side of the road with a tow truck. As they head into town, Isabel exhibits some of her powers and puts Maria on edge. This causes her to crash right into Sheriff Valenti's SUV.

At school, Ms. Topolsky, now revealed as the new guidance counselor, discusses "Future Week" with the students, emphasizing career opportunities. She then sees various students in her office, including Maria, Isabel, Kyle, Alex, Liz, and Max. Asking them various questions, she centers on Max and tells him that it is hard to put oneself out there for others to see. She writes a note that says "has secrets" after he leaves her office. Liz asks Max to mention to Isabel that she shouldn't use her powers around Maria because it puts Maria too much on edge. When Max breaches the subject with Isabel, she gets defensive and says that it is a good way to keep Maria on her toes, to be bullied into submission. Michael is unfazed by the discussion and steers it back towards the key they retrieved out of Sheriff Valenti's office.Later in the day, Liz and Maria are at work where Maria is forced to take Isabel's order. Sheriff Valenti then enters the Cafe and Maria becomes even more erratic, piquing the sheriff's attention. He leaves her after he tells her she can come to him with "anything." Max then enters the Cafe a bit later and, after pointing out a cash error between Maria and a customer, enters the UFO Center to find the customer. Inside, Max questions the tour guide about 1959, the date from Valenti's autopsy photo. While the other tourists are distracted by a video, the guide tells Max to come back the next day, that he has something Max may be interested in.Max and Isabel have a conversation that evening about how they have been forever stuck, instead of moving forward. Isabel wishes there was someone she could feel confident enough to talk to, but that they can't go telling any more people. The conversation ends and Isabel mentions that she was going to "pay Maria a visit" to find out how she had been thinking about the whole situation lately. It turns out that one of the specific powers that Isabel has is to be able to see into other peoples dreams, basically dreamwalking. Maria has been dreaming of Max and Isabel looking like aliens from old Sci-Fi movies. Isabel then reveals herself to Maria in the dream. She finds it interesting that Michael is dressed in suit, to which Maria says it makes her feel safer because otherwise she sees him as a disgusting and frightening alien. The dream ends with Maria trying to get help from Sheriff Valenti while she is being attacked by the menacing version of Michael.Max confronts Milton Ross, the owner of the UFO Center, after an eye opening conversation with Ms. Topolsky about the significance of the past. Milton shows Max a picture of him as a boy with a silhouette of an alien in the picture and tells Max he has one of the largest private collections of alien archives around. Maria has Valenti as a customer at the Cafe, who uses innuendos to assure Maria that he is there for her. He then asks her to come by his office the following day for a talk. Liz tries to prepare Maria for her appointment with Valenti, though Maria admits she wants to tell him about what has been happening. Max, Michael, and Liz all wait at school in anticipation of Maria's meeting. While in Valenti's office, Maria comes close to revealing her secret, but in the end lies to protect her new friends and their secret. Afterwards, Maria sees Isabel on the side of the road and offers her a ride, which Isabel gladly takes since she knows what Maria had just went through. The episode ends with the five of them, Max, Michael, Liz, Maria, and Isabel, meeting in the hallway as school is ending and each going their separate ways.

Cast

Jason Behr as Maxwell 'Max' Evans

Shiri Appleby as Elizabeth 'Liz' Parker

Katherine Heigl as Isabel Evans

Majandra Delfino as Maria DeLuca

Brendan Fehr as Michael Guerin

Colin Hanks as Alex Whitman

Nick Wechsler as Kyle Valenti

William Sadler as Sheriff Jim Valenti

Julie Benz as Kathleen Topolsky
Steve Hynter as Milton Ross

Powers used

* Isabel uses her powers to make the air conditioning work better in Maria's car.
* Isabel uses her powers to heightened the performance of Maria's cars' sound system.
* By seeing a photograph and concentrating, Isabel can dream walk, seeing into other peoples dreams. In this episode, she dream walks into Maria's mind.

Production notes

* First appearance of the UFO Center, run by Milton Cross (Steve Hynter).
* Steve Hynter, who plays Milton Ross, had a recurring role on Seinfeld as Kenny Bania. He appeared in a total of six episodes starting in 1995. He portrayed a luckless comedian with a fondness for soup.
* Some of the pictures in the Roswell yearbook that Isabel looks at have visible names; Tracey D'Arcy, Tim and Bobbi Davidson, Karen Del Bianco, and Peter Clarke. D'Arcy is a producer of Roswell. Del Bianco is show creator/executive producer Jason Katim's assistant. Bobbi Davidson is the sister of Roswell stunt coordinators Steve and Tim Davidson. Peter Clarke was Property Master.

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0690281/ Monsters at imdb.com]
* [http://www.tv.com/roswell/monsters/episode/33723/summary.html Monsters at tv.com]